Need 75, 210 and 300 lenses. Suggenstions?

[Andy Biggs]

I am just getting into large format, and I have determined a few focal lengths t hat will satidfy me, based on what I commonly used in 35mm format.

As far as current offerings go, what are some good suggestions in the 75, 210 an d 300 range? Yes, price is a factor, but so is coverage area. As far as speed go es, I will need to defer that answer to you, as I anticipate most use doing lans capes at dawn or sunset. Not sure if that will sway your answers or not.

I'm not too concerned with weight or size. What about the used market? That woul d be perfect, if that is an option.

Thanks in advance.

[Bill Glickman]

Andy, for 210mm, I would surely get the Fuji 210A, incredible sharpness and tiny, but f9, a bit tough in sunset, but doable, I have plenty of movements on my 8x10 with it, so no coverage problems. At the 75, I would say the Grandagons win....and 300mm, no one wins..

[John Hicks]

75 f4.5 Rodenstock Grandagon - good coverage and the speed makes focusing about as easy as it's going to get with such a lens.

210 f5.6 Rodenstock Apo-Sironar-S - a very, very good lens, easily visibly bet ter than the older Sironar-N, Symmar-S or any other 210 I've used.

305 f9 G-Claron - reasonable size and performance, a good alternative is the 3 05 M-Nikkor.

The used market is a good source but beware ebay; modern LF lenses often sell used on ebay for close to or more than brand-new prices.

[Michael S. Briggs]

I assume that you want lens recommendations for 4x5.

The 300 mm focal length is the easiest. In lenses currently made, for reasonable cost, size and weight with excellent coverage, either the Fuji-C or the Nikkor-M.

For 210 mm their are a wealth of offerings using the plasmat design and maximum aperture of f5.6. As this is the lens you will probably use the most, I would suggest getting an f5.6 model rather than a less common smaller aperture model. You won't go wrong with any offering of the big four (or one labeled as Caltar).

For 75 mm, because of cost, you will probably want one of the slower designs, typically about f8, such as Nikkor-SW, Schneider Super-Angulon and Rodenstock Grandagon. I suggest that you consider a 90 mm instead. The spacing between 75 and 210 is quite large and the 75 mm is appreciably harder to use than 90 mm. Don't take correspondences between 35 mm and 4x5 focal lengths too rigidly--the aspect ratio is different, and quite likely you will find that lenses don't "feel" like the correspondences suggest.

You might consider starting with one lens, than deciding what you need most. If you start with one lens, I would suggest either 180 mm or 210 mm. The other typical "normal" focal length, 150 mm, has less coverage. You will find many 210 mm lenses to choose from in the stock of the better used equipment dealers.

[Dave Willison]

Make sure your 4x5 camera can accomodate the 75mm and 300mm lenses. Check the manufacturer's specs or measure the maximun/minimum bellows extension. Many field cameras will accept a 75mm lens but will limit the camera's movements. If you go with a 75mm lens you may also need a recessed lensboard. If this is a problem, you may want to look at a 90mm lens like Schneider's Super Angulon. Be sure to check out the used market, particularly if you are going to purchase all three lenses at the same time. When looking at used lenses think about the possibility of using barrel lenses and do some research on what to look for in a used lens. Hope this is useful.

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[Geoffrey_1456]

Andy,

Dave just made an excellent point: "Make sure your 4x5 camera can accomodate the 75mm and 300mm lenses". If your camera can do that, I would get Rodenstock Grandagon-N 75/4.5, Rodenstock Apo-Sironar-S 180/5.6, and Schneider G-Claron 305/9 (when you are ready to move to 8x10, you have a normal lens). They all take 67 mm filters. These lenses can be found on the used market. Jeff at Badger Graphics offers very good prices for new and used lenses. Cheers,

[Ellis Vener]

Nikon, Rodenstock, Fuji & Schneider all make superlative lenses. Currently Caltar II lenses are made by Rodenstock so consider those as well. When considering wide angle lenses a faster aperture lens makes life easy for you in two ways: a brighter viewing screen and also the image circles produced by the faster lenses are considerably larger giving you more versatility. at the 300mm focal length, as long as you aren't looking at a telephoto design, you'll have a more than ample image circle, even with lens like the Nikon 300mm f/9 M-Nikkor.

The used market is an excellent alternative to buying new but go to a reputable dealer. In the USA, I have had good dealings with Lens & Repro, Photo Habitat, Fotocare, and Ken Hansen photographic (all in New York City); Photo-Mark in Phoenix (ask for Rod Klukas); The F-Stops Here (which has just moved from Santa Barbara to Michigan); and Quality Camera in Atlanta.

[Trevor Crone]

Andy, with regards to the focal lengths you mention I only have experience with the 75mm and like others have already recommended I would certainly go the extra mile and purchase the 75/f4.5 Grandagon-N. Its as sharp as a tack, has good cov erage, 195mm image circle which allows fair movement on 4x5 if your camera is up to it. Takes 67mm filters and weighs in at about 440g. It certainly is my most used wide angle lens. Good luck,

[Jim Galli]

Andy, Every input here is helpful and accurate. I would just add that when I started in 4X5, my first lense (came with the outfit) was a Caltar 210mm S II. I've tried a lot of other stuff in the meantime and never found anything close to being sharper. The S II series were Schneider Symmars mid '80's. The first lense I bought for myself like you, and for the same reasons was a 75mm Caltar f6.8. I've used it very little, even though it is sharper than a lot of 35mm camera lenses. Much later, in fact just last fall, I bought a 90mm 4.5 Grandagon from a seller on Ebay. THAT was the lens I originally wanted, even though I had done the math and come up with 75mm. The 90 is a pleasure. Because the format is more square than 35mm 2:3 with a 75 you just end up with an awful lot of sagebrush (I live in Nevada) in the foreground. Ideally, try to rent or borrow both before you commit a bunch of $. You could well find out I'm totally wrong and 75 was just what you wanted. Good luck and good light in your venture. J

[Michael_527]

In response to Bill's post above---

Bill, don't send the poor guy on a snipe hunt! I assume you made a mental error, because Fujinon did not make a 210A lens. They made a 180A, 240A, 300A, 360A, and I think a hangful of 450A lenses, but no 210A. At least, not in the modern, multicoated A series. I don't believe they made it in the older single coated line, either. Kerry will chime in to correct me, if I'm wrong, I'm sure.

I do agree, however, that the A series of lenses is a very good way to get a focal length in a sharp, multicoated lens, without the large size of many of the 'normal' lines. I use the 180A on 4x5 a good bit, and also have a 360A which will cover my 7x17.

---Michael